In The News

New York Police Label Mosques as Terrorist Organizations

Adam Goldman, Matt Apuzzo August 30, 2013
The New York Police Department secretly labeled mosques as “terrorism organizations,” to allow surveillance, reports the Associated Press. “Designating an entire mosque as a terrorism enterprise means that anyone who attends prayer services there is a potential subject of an investigation and fair game for surveillance,” write Adam Goldman and Matt Apuzzo. “Before the NYPD could target mosques...

Syria Is Dying

Azeem Ibrahim August 29, 2013
A brutal civil war reigns in Syria, as demonstrated by scenes of a neighborhood waking to a chemical attack that killed hundreds. International critics allege that the regime, clinging to power, is responsible for the attack, even as the United Nations investigates. The country has become the center for a regional proxy war and a battleground for the two leading branches of Islam, explains Azeem...

The Case Against War in Syria

Oona Hathaway, Scott Shapiro August 29, 2013
Scenes of lifeless bodies and Syrian children suffering from a chemical attack trigger an urge for immediate action. The most likely suspect behind the attacks is Syrian forces protecting dictator Bashar al-Assad. At the very least, the regime failed to protect its stockpiles of chemical weapons. But an outraged world should be patient: “unleashing even limited military force without U.N....

Mosque or Modernity?

Michel Rocard August 28, 2013
The Arab Spring toppled some dictators, but countries have yet to organize strong institutions for democratic governance. Inequality and poverty destabilize the region, along with violence in Egypt, Libya, Iraq and Syria. “There are no easy ways out of underdevelopment without challenging traditional lifestyles, customs, and social relations,” writes former French Prime Minister Michel Rocard....

Codename “Apalachee”: How the US Spies on Europe and the UN

Laura Poitras, Marcel Rosenbach, Holger Stark August 27, 2013
NSA documents released by former contract worker Edward Snowden suggest that the US has targeted EU, UN and International Atomic Energy Agency offices with surveillance and that US embassies serve as bases for spying activities. The documents were released shortly after the US president had vowed the country's only surveillance interest was to “prevent a terrorist attack.” Such spying has...

Bradley Manning's 35-Year Sentence Is a Halfway House

Mark Mardell August 26, 2013
Bradley Manning joined the US Army in 2007 and two years later was charged with leaking classified information to WikiLeaks, including US embassy cables and a video showing civilians and journalists killed by a US helicopter in Iraq. He was convicted of espionage in July, though the judge dismissed the most serious charge, aiding the enemy, and issued a compromise sentence of 35 years, reports...

China-US Vie for World Approval

Bruce Stokes August 22, 2013
Results of a Pew Research Center survey suggest global citizens anticipate shifting balance of power resulting from China’s economic rise. Most respondents in the nations surveyed expect China to eventually overtake the US, reports Bruce Stokes, director of global economic attitudes at the Pew Research Center. Yet inevitability may not coincide with preference. “As its influence grows, China is...